The EESC’s plenary session got back under way this morning with a debate on, and adoption of, an opinion on the European Commission’s Communication on ‘A Roadmap towards a Banking Union’. The rapporteur, Carlos Trias Pinto (Spain, Various Interests Group – picture), eloquently explained how the proposed banking union would place the banking sector on a more sound footing and restore confidence in the euro as part of a longer-term vision for economic and fiscal integration. Shifting the supervision of banks to the European level would be, he argued, a key part of this process, which would subsequently be combined with other steps such as a common system for deposit protection, and integrated bank crisis management. A banking union would, he concluded, represent a step towards the euro zone and the EU as a whole embarking on a virtuous cycle overcoming its design flaws and enabling the single market to regain competitiveness. The plenary wholeheartedly agreed!